The Trinidad and Tobago Football Team, affectionately known as the Soca Warriors and previously the Strike Squad, has been for many years at the mercy of Austin Jack Warner, CONCACAF President, FIFA Vice President and Special Advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. Recently, the majority of the Warriors have been blacklisted over disagreements over compensation from the first, and successful World Cup campaign in Germany.
Forward to the 2006 Germany World Cup campaign, and once more Jack Warner was involved in the thick of things since the TTFF was sorely under funded. Jack appeared as the saviour and ultimate hero to the Soca Warriors at the time. Shortly after the World Cup however he has become a detested villain, not only by the players but also the Trinidad and Tobago football supporters.
Reasons for this dislike is well founded and also well documented both in local and foreign press as well as on the socawarriors.net forums. The number of problems that have appeared have one thing in common, Jack Warner.
We can start with the Simpaul Travel Agency scandal which eventually exploded on the internation scene with his son Daryan Warner, taking the fall, albeit a gentle fall. Daryan was charged US$1 million for his involvement in Simpaul Travel charging exorbitant prices for Trinidad and Tobago World Cup packages, and also packaging tickets with other items. He eventually only paid US$250000. Indeed he was also implicated in attempting to buy and sell World Cup tickets on the black market, a clear breach of FIFA rules. An African Football Confederation member was sent home for scalping tickets outside of the Trinidad and Tobago vs England World Cup game. Why was there a double standard for Count Jackula and his cronies?
Count Jackula, as he is affectionately known on the socawarriors.net forum, appears to always be involved in something fishy. Is he just bad lucky? Or is he the easy scapegoat for all bad things that happen to Trinidad and Tobago football?
Looking further on, we next come to the infamous Jacklisted Warriors, or blacklisted players post World Cup. As mentioned in a detailed interview between Flex, the board administrator, and Kevin Harrison the face of FPATT (Football Players Association of Trinidad and Tobago). Flex in his second question asked "What really transpired between the players and the TTFF concerning the promised bonus?", to which Kevin replied, "The current impasse occurred mainly due to a lack of written contracts. When Mr Warner agreed to pay the players a bonus of 30% of net revenue, obviously the players were pleased. They knew there was a multi million pound Adidas deal. They knew there was a significant e-bay deal, they knew there were TV-rights to the warm up games. They imagined a gross income of at least £12,000,000. Even after expenses, there would be a large bonus. Then Mr Warner increased the players pool to 50%. Imagine, then, their feelings when they were each offered £485!"
Mr. Harrison continued, "When they asked for accounts to show where the money was spent, they were shown a spread sheet that they did not believe was accurate. TTFF refused to provide audited accounts and the players became frustrated. A split occurred because 16 players wanted to take legal action, while the other 7 opted not to, for reasons that remain their own. They did, however, believe that the treatment of all of them was incorrect."
When Flex asked if the current blacklisting is legal, it was greeted with an enthusiastic and overwhelming NO. According to Harrison, "Silence followed, and it became obvious that the 16 players, though wanting to play for TnT and making themselves available, were declared unavailable for selection by TTFF. Even coach Wim Rijsbergen admitted he would like the option of selecting from the 16. When Lawrence, Carlos and Clayton were called up, even though they were not involved in the court case, they decided to stand against the blacklist."
Harrison further stated, "It is believed that this blacklist is illegal and would be judged as victimization. During late 2006, some of the players decided it was time to push forward with FPATT, to ensure this kind of dispute would never reoccur. If the union had been in place, it is likely that individuals would not have been blacklisted."
Since then, Jack Warner has been called Count Jackula, the blacklisted players being called Jacklisted players, and Oliver Camps, since he does nothing but be a mouthpiece for the Count, has been labeled as Oliver Scamps. It is very disappointing to know that is this controversy happened in a country like England, Italy or France, with a Special Advisor hijacking the football team, there would probably be a riot. In Trinidad and Tobago I guess the sentiment or the football fever is not there. The population may riot quicker if the government says no Carnival next year. Oh what a pity!
